Thinking of PPL

[Driver 170]

Hi, i'm a 29 year old single man with no kids or a mortgage. I'm a train driver in Scotland, UK and have a very good income with no debt.

I've been thinking about starting off with a PPL and build on that, IR CPL etc. I'm looking for someone who can lend some advice with getting a PPL and what doors it can lead to? Maybe a futute career as a pilot...

My maths is not great from high school, but I'm studying maths again to brush up which i got the CD rom studies from oxford aviation and also the Physics CD.

Thanks, vernon.

[Fly4Business]

Just go to the next flight school and start. They'll teach you everything and can also be helpful to sort out what is possible and what not.

[DirtyProp]

I'm a train driver in Scotland, UK and have a very good income with no debt.
I would advise you to keep your job and keep flying as a hobby.

[Driver 170]

The closest one for me is Tayside, Dundee.

Its alot of money to pursue a career and the chances at the end?

[Baikonour]

Flying is very rewarding and a fascinating activity. If you are interested in gaining a PPL, you should do so for fun and for the pure pleasure of it.
If, once you have the PPL, you want to add ratings etc., then that is also great - a constant challenge and sense of achievement as your abilities increase and your flying scope broadens.
Whether, at the end of that line, you end up being able to change your lifestyle in a way where flying can meaningfully contribute to your income or become a full time career is not a decision you need to be making today...

Before you get there, you should do your best to try all the various parts of flying - tailwheel, seaplanes, aeros etc. - and get to know all the various possible roles which are out there, from instruction to aerial work, business jets etc... all the way through to an ATPL. There are many more varieties of 'pilots' than most people realise.

To start a PPL, buy a logbook, find some schools local to you and have some trial lessons. Be sure you get these entered and signed off in the logbook and they will count towards your PPL hours. Go with the school where you felt most at ease with the instructor. Don't get too hung up on the aircraft type or even the airfield you fly from - there will be lots of time to fly different aircraft from different places once you have your PPL - but you will be stuck next to your instructor for quite a lot of time in small, loud, shaking and sometimes smelly and hot environment, so you want to make sure you will get on with him/her.

As you gain your PPL you are likely to get a different perspective on what it means to be a pilot, and gain a better understanding of what sort of options might be available to you afterwards.

If you do that and enjoy it, you will have a fantastic hobby and lots of fun over the rest of your life - even if you never make a career out of it :ok:

If you set out from day one with a new career in your mind, it's a different approach and, as you say, slightly riskier from a cost/reward perspective; especially since today you probably don't know which type of 'pilot career' you want to aim for/are best suited for....

B.

[airpolice]

Vernon, you might find that working in a job as a pilot is not too different to what you do now, except that you have another pilot sitting next to you. With a lot fewer stops, it's like doing a Waverley to Kings Cross. You turn up, sign for it and get locked in a cupboard (with a nice view) for 4 hours, then you do it all again to come home.

On the other hand, Flying as a hobby.... well that's a right laugh.

The most important thing is to enjoy it. I'm sure that there are anoraks out there who would love to do a shift in a cab with you, regardless of if it's the Fife Circle or the trip to Mallaig via the Glenfinnan Viaduct. Drivers who do those routes every day would be less enthusiastic.

Some people think train driving is awesome, but there's a guy on here who gets paid for doing it, but might rather be a Pilot.

Go to Tayside, since that is closest to you. Speak to "big" Al Murray and get him to take you for a trial lesson in the new Aqulilla. Then, provided you weigh less than 12 stone in old money, go to Perth and let Jim Lister fly you in a Eurostar. Leading Edge at Perth have a collection Cessna 172/152 and PA28s to let you try different styles of aircraft regardless of what you weigh.

{If you have a military background, there are other options as well, saving you quite a bit of cash.}

Colin will no doubt pop up in a minute and suggest that you go to Strathaven and try a microlight. That might do it for you, but grass runways are not for me, especially that grass runway. I prefer the 10,000 feet of concrete and tarmac that I'm used to.

Gliding is a whole different scene, of which I know nothing, except that the fans of it thinks it's great. I prefer to have an engine.

Don't get too hung up on the exams or adding ratings. Get a licence, even "just" an NPPL and get flying. Take your mates up with you and watch the trains crawling along below you.

Flying for fun is fun, flying for work is work, even if you enjoy it.

The important thing is to establish whether or not you actually enjoy being up in the air, in control. What you do after that, is after that.

[Camargue]

I agree with above, see how you go before setting your heart on commercial flying. I learnt on a university air squadron and realised fairly quickly that military life was not for me and nor was commercial flying. its a fun hobby that I do in the summer months and no more.

[Driver 170]

Thanks a bunch for the response and i hope others searching will find this useful as i have.

Very true, i will start off with my mind on the PPL and only as far as that, and then maybe start to look at options on where i want to go with things.

I have all the oxford PPL ground study books read pretty much read them all, but could do with some flying and an experienced person (instructor) to help most of my questions and of course doing the practical work does make the theory side become more sense :)

Its my passion and hobby to fly and only way i'm truely going to know is to take to the skies and try it out !!!

Just to add i was in the armed services RAF, but no flying experience though!

[airpolice]

You should join the RAF Leuchars Flying Club.

Big runways and excellent instructors.

[piperboy84]

I have a CPL and just fly for fun, as others have said start out on the PPl treating it as a hobby and see how you get on and if you like it.

If Dundee is your closest field I'm based out of a grass strip 12 miles away, and regularly go for a belt round Perth and Angus, you're welcome to ride shotgun for a bimble to get a taste of flying . PM your info.

[India Four Two]

Driver 170,

Go for it! pb84 is a really nice guy and I'm sure you will have a lot of fun. His Maule is a really interesting aircraft

Of course, he will probably want to ride shotgun with you! :E

[tmmorris]

+1 for a RAFFCA club like Leuchars, as it should save you money compared to a commercial operation like Tayside, good though the latter are said to be (no personal experience - I fly at another RAFFCA club)

[Driver 170]

Thanks guys i will be going for it for sure and see where it takes me.

PB84 you can't allow any more PMs

[150 Driver]

Reasons to give up now before you start:-

- you still have your sanity
- you still have money
- you still have a choice about what to do when the sun shines
- although single at the moment you might find a relationship

Reasons why you'll regret taking it up:-

- The bl**dy landings are impossible
- For most mortals (i.e. sky gods excepted) it isn't the most natural thing to do
- It will become all consuming
- There will be frustrating days (just look at some of the threads on here)
- You will bore the pants off everyone you meet with your flying tales
- Every penny you can spare will be poured into getting your PPL as soon as you can . . .
- . . . and once beyond that into getting airborne as frequently as you can, whether renting, part owning or owning

Reasons for doing it regardless of any of the above:-

- If you don't do it you'll regret it for ever
- Life is short
- The opportunity to be at one with (tempted to say nature) using your skill and sometimes luck to survive are few and far between in this over regulated world
- None of the above matter
- IMHO nothing (yes, nothing) can beat flying

Good luck, do it, persevere and enjoy every minute. Those of us who fly at whatever level are part of a small, elite and lucky group of people.

:)